THE RISE OF NAPOLEON AND DOMESTIC

REFORM
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

 Born in 1769 on the

island of Corsica
 Sent to military school
in Paris
 At 16, he became a
lieutenant in artillery
 Fervent supporter and
soldier of the revolution
 Short, proud, ambitious,
and power-hungry
 NAPOLEON’S MILITARY RISE TO POWER
 As savior of the Republic,
the Directory gave him an
army and an enemy
 Defeated the Austrians in Italy
and essentially ended the War
of the First Coalition
 Led an expedition to Egypt to
disrupt British trade and
started the War of the Second
Coalition
 Suffered a naval defeat, but
this was kept out of the
French papers
SPREAD OF REVOLUTIONARY REPUBLICANISM
THE WEAKNESS OF THE DIRECTORY
 Tired of war, economic
depression, and religious
persecution, France elected
a pro-royalist Legislative
Assembly in 1797
 Hoped to bring back Louis
XVIII who recently issued the
Declaration of Verona!
 To protect the republic, the
Directory annulled these
elections!!!
 Despite this, the Directory was
weak and could not gain
peace abroad or at home
THE COUP D’ETAT
 Members in the LA,
including Sieyes, wanted a
new government
 “Confidence from below,
authority from above”
 On his return in 1799,
Napoleon surrounded the
legislature with his troops
 Dissolved the directory
 Set up three consuls
 Really though, Napoleon
was now dictator of a “fake”
republic
 Plebiscite – popular vote
approved the new change
NAPOLEON, THE ENLIGHTENED DESPOT?
 From decentralization to
centralization
 Replaced the local assemblies
of the 83 departments with
prefects (similar to intendants)
 Finally, tax collection FROM
EVERYONE worked!
 Promoted gov’t efficiency
 Booted corrupt officials working
under the Directory
 Lycees – schools to train young
men for the gov’t
 Created a new aristocracy who
earned their way through state
service
 Pardoned emigres, who served
Napoleon in these new
positions
THE NAPOLEONIC CODE
 Completed the codification of French law
 Before the revolution, there existed over 300 different legal systems!
 Civil Code of Napoleon
 Equality under law
 Religious toleration
 Abolition of serfdom
 Right to property
 Abolition of primogeniture
 However,
 Women lost certain rights gained during the revolution
 Freedom of speech and press were continually neglected as Napoleon’s
rule became more and more autocratic
 Overall, the Code promoted order over individual liberty!
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
 Fixed the economy
 More efficient and
effective tax collection
created a balanced
budget
 Revived the Bank of
France to serve as a
national bank
 Revived mercantilist
practices to encourage
industry and business
expansion
 FRENCH CATHOLICISM REBORN!
 Napoleon’s view on religion:
 “No society can exist without
morality; there is no good morality
without religion. It is religion alone,
therefore, that gives to the State a
firm and durable support.” -
Napoleon
 Condordat (1801)
 Reestablished the presence of the
Church, but it is not the religion of
the state
 Napoleon retained control over the
church, and the land confiscated
during the revolution would not be
returned
 Who won?
 Napoleon, DUH!
NAPOLEON BECOMES EMPEROR
 Napoleon made peace
with the Second Coalition
by 1802
 The budget was balanced
by 1802, and France had
finally achieved some
sense of stability
 So, in December of 1804,
Napoleon wanted to
become emperor
 Though the Pope was
present, he crowned
himself!